Biography:
Joseph Waters (born September 16, 1952 in Jackson, Michigan, USA) studied composition
at Yale University, the Universities of Oregon and Minnesota, and Stockholms
Musikpedagogiska Institut. His primary teachers were Jacob Druckman, Bernard
Rands, Roger Reynolds, Dominick Argento, Martin Bresnick, Robert Kyr and Jeffrey
Stolet.
An active composer of acoustic, electro-acoustic and inter-disciplinary works,
Joseph Waters belongs to the first generation of classical composers that grew
up playing in rock bands. Throughout his career he has been intrigued by the
connections, confluences, and tensions which entangle and bind the great musics
of Europe and Africa. Much of his work involves interactions between electronic
and acoustic instruments. He has been involved in Inter-disciplinary and collaborative
works on and off since the early 1980's.
His works are regularly performed around the world.
Joseph Waters is the Artistic Director of the New West Electro-Acoustic Music
Organization (NWEAMO) in Portland, Oregon. He also founded and co-directed Network
for New Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the 1980s.
He has received numerous awards in composition, including National Endowment
for the Arts/Rockefeller Foundation (through the Painted Bride Arts Center,
Philadelphia), Regional Arts and Culture Council and Pennsylvania Council on
the Arts grants.
He is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Electro-Acoustic and Media
Composition at San Diego State University.